St. Benedicts Special Children's Center provides early care and education to infants, toddlers and preschool-age children. The recently renovated center provides care to children in the neighborhood, and it focuses on three special populations: children with special education needs; children of teen parents, and children of migrants and refugees.
St. Benedicts' philosophy is based on inclusion-the mainstreaming of special needs children with their peers. The goal is for all children to be English ready and school ready to advance with their peers to kindergarten.
Special education services are provided on site through collaboration with Unified School District #500. Enrollment begins with the development of an individual education plan (IEP), and may include speech therapy, occupational and physical therapy and other related services.
Teen parents take part in weekly parenting classes and case management provided through New Directions for Teen Parents. Migrant and refugee parents receive assistance with housing, job search, language classes and other needs, also on site.
St. Benedicts is licensed by the State of Kansas and is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
